Grieving Queen Elizabeth ripped the royal family apart by giving accused rapist Prince Andrew a key role at a special church service despite the objections of future kings Prince Charles and Prince William, palace sources say.
The 95-year-old monarch insisted on taking the arm of the disgraced Duke of York at the memorial service for her late husband, Prince Philip, at Westminster Abbey, shocking Britain by sending a clear signal she still embraces her bad boy son.
“I’m told Charles and William wanted Andrew to stay away — like troublemakers Prince Harry and Meghan,” says a high-level palace courtier.
“They tried to convince Her Majesty Andrew’s presence would taint Philip’s memory and shine the spotlight on the scandals that got her favorite son exiled from royal life.”
“But she refused to listen and decreed not only would Andrew attend his father’s memorial, he would be right at her side! The decision threw the royals into chaos!”
“The only person who was happy was Andrew! He clearly saw it as an opportunity for revenge on his brother and nephew who he believes ruthlessly kicked him out of public life.”
The queen’s shocking public olive branch came just weeks after the playboy prince, nicknamed Randy Andy, paid off his rape accuser Virginia Roberts Giuffre, 38. Although he denied he had underage sex with Giuffre, he settled her civil lawsuit in March in New York with a payment estimated at $16 million.
He was banished from royal life two years ago over his close ties to convicted pedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, who died at 66 in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking. Andrew’s rape accuser was an Epstein sex slave.
At the March 29 memorial service, tensions ran high as the queen and Andrew, 62, joined 1,800 guests paying tribute to Philip, who died last April at 99.
“Andrew was ignored by his brothers, Charles and Edward, and his sister, Princess Anne,” says a witness.
“Her Majesty may insist Andrew has a place at family occasions, but there is clearly no love lost among the siblings —and no way back for royal black sheep. This will be the last formal public appearance of his life.”
